Mindfulness cognitive-based therapy combined with metaphor therapy can improve problematic social media use.
Weirui Xiong, Lu Yu, Jinhui Chai
Frontiers in Psychiatry 2025 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1503049 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 60 |
| Population | Individuals with problematic social media use |
| Interventions | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy Metaphor therapy |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Metaphor therapy Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy Social media |
| Key findings | Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy combined with metaphor therapy changed participants' cognition and behavior, achieving a good intervention effect for problematic social media use. |
Abstract
Problematic Social Media Use (PSMU) refers to an individual's long-term, high-intensity use of social media. Although this behavior is not pathological, it has a negative impact on the physical and mental health of individuals. In the past, intervention methods used for PSMU often controlled behavior to reduce the usage time of individual social media platforms. However, because psychological needs satisfaction and unreasonable cognition that lead to the problematic use of social media by individuals are not considered, behavior-based treatment models often do not address this problem. 30 participants with PSMU (with another 30 participants as a control group) participated in an intervention program of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) combined with metaphor therapy (MT). The results showed that these therapies changed the participants' cognition and behavior and achieved a good intervention effect. The MBCT combined with MT can be used as an intervention for patients with PSMU.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
- Mindfulness-Based Intervention in Schools: Addressing Social Media Burnout and Enhancing Well-Being in Adolescents. Children (Basel, Switzerland) June 23, 2025
- Mindfulness-based and mindfulness-informed interventions for internet use disorders in adolescents and young adults: A three-level random-effects meta-analysis Journal of Behavioral Addictions September 18, 2026
Cites 4
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